Video Nasty: Mardi Gras Massacre (1978)

The feeling of house cleaning, and shoveling out driveways, and how "fun" it is, is what I have now before my review of a movie I've heard so many bad things about that I know it's gonna suck even before I watch it, so what to do?

That's right. Scream, and get to it cause ain't nuthin' to it but to do it, and must be at the least a little fun at the Mardi Gras...Massacre none the less which actually looks like a lot of fun from the poster artwork, and I've heard there's Disco in it, so it can't be all bad, right?

Plot:
And Sho' nuff. We start at a sleazy strip joint to the sound of Dennis Coffey's porn funk classic High On Love setting the right mood for some hot fun I bet, and yes, girls arrive being asked "How's tricks?" by the bartender.

An appearantly stylish gentleman enters claiming he's new in town, telling the hookers he's looking for some evil fun, so one goes with him. If she only knew this:

I guess it goes without saying now that dude kills girls to sacrifice them to an Aztec God, and there's your basic plot for MGM.

What's Good:
First of all the funky Disco soundtrack courtesy of Westbound Records which is most likely unofficial, but we're treated to great tracks by Dennis Coffey, Mike Theodore Orchestra, and CJ & Co. so it's some of the finest Westbound Disco artists right there.

Gore, and then some more gore...

...and then some more...

...but sexy at the same time, and everything done to Disco music!

What's Bad:
That's all peaches, and cream when something does happen as it's far in between. Most of this movie goes by switching between scenes at the aforementioned bar, hookers, and strippers dancing, clubbing (the Disco kind), and investigation of the murders.

The killer picks up several girls at the same bar, and gets away with it despite the investigation going on there, and he does just about the same thing to all the girls.

As cool as the Disco music is, using it as the only soundtrack in a Horror movie's not a good idea, and MGM does just that!

Also, it tries very hard to be H.G. Lewis' gore classic Blood Feast, and fails.

The fighting coreography's however the most laughable as it looks like something out of a silent movie from the 1910's or around there.

The Verdict:
Most everything you need to see happens within the first ten minutes, then it's a repeat of that for the rest of the movie. The best thing about it is the soundtrack which was never released as an accual soundtrack album, but all the songs used in the movie are easy to get anyway on their respective albums, or better yet twelve inch singles since we're talkin' Disco here.

Other than that, I doubt I'll watch this film ever again as it's mostly a crappy snooze-fest, but the great music, sex & violence makes MGM deserving of a...

Rating: 
2/6